Chapter 58: Friends of Fish (Edited)

Although Harry's popularity in Gryffindor was similar to Fish's (for boys only), the Savior's popularity was not effective on Filch.

Filch, who ignored Harry's Savior status, found them a difficult job: cleaning out the cellar.

For the first time, Harry learned that there was a cellar the size of the Great Hall hidden just below the Great Hall.

"The contents of the cellar have been temporarily removed, so your job tonight is to clean it out," Filch tossed a bucket and mop at Harry and the others' feet, then pointed to the thin, bony, gray cat next to him, "Remember, no magic, Mrs. Norris will be watching them."

"Are you kidding me?!", Malfoy couldn't keep up his pretentious act and yelped with wide eyes.

"Be glad," Filch said with a grin and said with disappointment in his voice, "that the old punishment of being dangled from your wrists and hanging from the ceiling has been abolished. hanging from the ceiling for days. I still have those chains in my office, I grease them regularly, they might come in handy someday..."

It seems that not only does the Savior's popularity not work, but even Malfoy's all-powerful father doesn't work with Filch either.

'That's probably the only good news from tonight's confinement,' Harry thought bitterly and looked over his shoulder at Malfoy, who looked like a choking chicken, not daring to utter a sound, obviously intimidated by Filch's words.

In fact, Harry reckoned, his face was probably no better... after all, the cellar was very large.

After scaring Harry and the others, Filch nodded in satisfaction and left the cellar with the oil lamp in hand, he didn't have much time to waste here, these little bastards weren't the twins and didn't need his personal supervision.

When Filch left, Harry and the others split into two groups, each choosing a spot to clean the cellar.

...

"Merlin's crutch ... Comey and the others must have been lazy!", Ron, who had managed to clean a corner, leaned on the mop and wiped the sweat from his face, "This dirt won't build up for more than ten days!".

"...You idiot," Malfoy looked at him coldly and sneered.

As the eldest Malfoy, he wasn't going to do the hard work since Filch was gone, and Malfoy left the job to Crabbe and Goyle, sitting quietly in an upside down bucket of water.

"Still want to fight?", Already disgusted by Malfoy's lazy behavior, Ron immediately picked up the mop in his hand and glared at Malfoy.

Since he had already beaten Malfoy once, Ron had a psychological advantage, so he wasn't afraid.

Crabbe and Goyle stopped what they were doing and got in front of Malfoy as quickly as possible.

They had been scolded by Malfoy for not getting in the way in time, and this time they wouldn't let Ron get away with it.

On the other hand, Harry stood next to Ron and faced Malfoy.

"Meow..."

But this time they didn't fight, a slightly mournful cat meow stopped the confrontation, and Lady Norris stepped out of the shadows, her eyes wide and deadly on Harry and the others.

"Hmph! You're lucky," Malfoy growled, sitting back down on the bucket.

"That's exactly what I meant!", Ron had been a bit wary of the big Goyle and Crabbe,

Now that he couldn't fight, he couldn't afford to lose verbally to Malfoy.

He didn't hesitate to say something harsh in return, before Ron went back to work with his mop.

"I really don't like cats after all...," Ron muttered under his breath to Harry as he struggled to clean the persistent stains on the floor.

As the owner of a pet rat, it was only natural that Ron didn't like cats, but Fish's presence had given him the illusion, and Mrs. Norris's presence had helped to dispel it.

Harry laughed bitterly, he did like cats, except for Mrs. Norris.

The five young wizards, four to be exact, had worked for over two hours to clean most of the cellar, but by then they were too tired to raise their hands.

"No, I have to rest," Ron dropped the rag in his hand and, following Malfoy's example, emptied a bucket and sat down in it.

Seeing this, Harry picked up a bucket and sat down beside him as well.

Mrs. Norris, who was lying in the corner, looked at them and lay down again.

Her job was to keep an eye on the students working without magic, not to forbid them to rest, or she wouldn't have let Malfoy sit there doing nothing.

The next moment, however, Mrs. Norris got up from the floor and ran towards the entrance.

Harry and the others thought Filch had returned, so they got up and went back to work, while Malfoy grabbed a mop to disguise himself.

But then a small silver-gray figure came through the door.

It was Fish, who had just come out of the kitchen and had followed Mrs. Norris' scent.

"Meow~" (=ΦωΦ=)?

Fish greeted Mrs. Norris before turning into his human form and taking the food he had just brought from the kitchen out of the magical bag Dumbledore had given his and placing it in front of Mrs. Norris.

Once that was done, Fish turned to Harry and the others, "What are you guys doing here too, meow?"

Ron scratched his cheek and replied, "Confined."

By this time Fish understood the concept of confinement, so he said, "You're too careless meow, you can't get caught by Minerva if they cause trouble."

Ron twisted the corners of his mouth, without correcting Fish.

It was then that Fish noticed the bruises on Malfoy's face again, "Meow? did you get in a fight with Scarhead too, Big Brain?"

"Yeah, me, Harry and Malfoy and the three of us, we got in a good fight, that's why we're grounded," Ron, who was worried about Malfoy's slip of the tongue, quickly took over.

Malfoy shot him an annoyed look, thinking that Ron was deliberately trying not to let him talk to Fish.

But before he could explain what was going on, Fish had already understood in his own way.

"When I was a wanderer, my kind used to fight," Fish said, raising his head proudly, "But they couldn't beat me!" o(*￣ω￣*)o

"Uh...," Malfoy still wanted to talk, but Fish wasn't going to stay here any longer, he pulled some food out of his pocket and gave it to the five present, then waved his hand and headed for the cellar exit.

"I still have to take the food to Fluffy..." At that moment, Fish suddenly remembered the storybook he had read earlier, in which the protagonist liked to introduce his friends to others, so he immediately added, "Come see me on the third floor after your confinement, I will introduce you to Fluffy."

After Fish left, Harry and Malfoy looked at each other, grabbed the food Fish had given them and went back to their respective areas, munching in silence....

After all the work they had done, they were really hungry.

And Dumbledore, who was hiding off to the side, stroked his beard.... Now he didn't have to think of a way to get Harry to the third floor.

Fish is really a good boy!